Door operation control



Oct. 7, 1952 c. w. BASSETT 2,613,076

DOOR OPERATION CONTROL Filed March 20, 1948 3 Sheets-Shet l EESEB/O/E INVENTOR- CYeus Mfiflsserr Oct. 7, 1952 c. w. BASSETT 2,613,076

I DOOR OPERATION CONTROL Filed March 20, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 6/605 (M 5455577 yTTOEA/E/ Oct. 7, 1952 c. w. BASSETT 2,613,076

DOOR OPERATION CONTROL Filed March 20, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I N V EN TOR. CV6; {#5455577 Patented Oct. 7, 1952 bymesne assignments, to National Pneumatic 00;, Inc., Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application March 20, 1948, Serial No. 16,113

Thisinvention relates to the operation of doors andparticularly to the control of a motor or engine for the application of operating power to a sliding type of door.

Sliding doors, as a rule, are more difficult to open than are doors which swing on hinges. There are many reasons why this is so, but one important reason is that a person walking directly toward a door, with the intention of opening it and continuing his course in the same line, directly through and beyond the door opening, finds it much easier to exert a direct pressure, or push, upon the surface of the door, than to exert a side-wise pull such as is' required to initiate the opening motion of a sliding door.

The present invention provides a novelmethod and means of operation of a sliding door, which novel method permits use of the easier push technique heretofore applicable to swing doors only, rather than the side-wise pull technique.

More specifically, the invention provides a power-operated slide type door having incorporated in the door itself a novel control mechanism for energizing the power unit in the proper manner to cause application of door opening force to the door; the said control mechanism being operable by applying a slight push against either one of two panels provided on opposite faces of the door, thus permitting use of the power control mechanism by persons approaching the door from either of two opposite directions.

A control of the character herein disclosed is particularly desirable for multiple car vehicles (railway trains and the like) where there is considerable traffic from one car to another by way An object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a door having incorporated therein control means for its own operation, said control means being operable by slight pressure applied to either face of the door.

A second object is to provide control means of novel construction permitting energization of a door opening instrumentality in response to relative motion between a panel mounted on 2 Claims. (01. 2ss-4e the door, and the door itself; such relative motion being brought about by any slight pressure applied to any portion of the panel.

A third object is to provide control means of the character indicated, which control means is accessible for operation for the purpose of opening a slide-type door, but is not accessible for operation if the door happens to be in its fully open position; additional control means being provided to move the door back to the closed position.

A fourth object is to provide a novel combinationof switch operating elements, includ-: ing a pair of plates, or panels, each normally aligned with one door surface, and normally separated circuit-closing members interposed between said panels and engageable in response to a shifting of either panel, to even a slight degree, from its normal disposition in relation to the other. I

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparentupon examination of the fol lowing further description, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a slide-type door and a receiving wall-pocket; the door including switch operating push-plates, or panels, incorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 shows the manner in which the wa11-. pocket conceals the push-plates and thereby prevents operation thereof when the door is in the fully open position;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of one of the push-plates;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation view, showing both push-plates in assembled relationship on the door;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view along line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an elevation view of the switch mechanism attached to the push-plate of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view along line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view along line 8-8 of Fig.6;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view along line 9-9 of Fig. 6; and I Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the complete apparatus.

The two push-plates l5, l6 are yieldingly mounted in a cut-out portion of slide door 11, the latter carrying hollow rectangular frames 68, I9 attached to opposite faces of the door, about the edges of the cut-out portion, by screws 2|, 22 (see Figs. 3 and 4) lugs 23, 24 on 3 the plates |5, |6, respectively, receive the end portions of shouldered studs 26, 21, 28, and 29, there being one at each end of the four corners of the aligned plates. Springs 3| surrounding the studs urge the plates l5 and I6 away from each other, to the extent permitted by the fixed spacing of the retaining frames 8 and I9, respectively; and in these outermost positions (see Fig. 4) the outer surfaces of the plates are disposed slightly in advance of the main surfaces of the door, designated by numerals 32 and 33 in Fig. 4, and similarly in Figs. 1 and 2. The distance from plate to plate, however, does not exceed the door width sufl'iciently to create interference with the walls 36, 31 (Figs. 1 and 2) between which the door, including the plates l5 and I6, is received when it slides to the fully open position shown in Fig. 2.

Plate |5 carries the switch assembly shown in greater detail in Figs. 6 to 9, and plate l5 carries adjustably a screw 4| engageable with a button 42 of the switch assembly when either plate l5 or plate |6-is pressed toward the other; the spacing being such that a very slight movement of either plate (induced by touching the plate at any region thereof) suffices to produce engagement of parts 4| and 42. Such engagement, and the resultant pressure of diaphragm 43 upon switch finger 44 (Fig. 7) completes an electric circuit from current source 45 (Fig. to the valve control relay 46 of door operating engine 41, the circuit completion occurring at the'switch contacts 48, 49 of Fig. '7, the former being secured to switch finger 44 and the latter to terminal strip 5|. Leads 52, 53 (Fig. 10) extend from terminals 54, 55 respectively, the latter being the points of anchorage of switch finger 44 and terminal strip 5|, respectively. Thus the circuit runs from source 45 by way of lead 52 to terminal 54, thence across contacts 48 and 48 to terminal 5|, 55 and by way of lead 53 to the valve operating relay 46, and thence to ground.

Energization of relay 45, through the circuit just traced, performs two functions: first it establishes a holding circuit for the relay by way of holding contact 58, and secondly, it completes a circuit through contact 59 to energize solenoid 58 of the valve assembly 51.

.Energization of solenoid 55 causes valve 51 to function, whereupon engine 41 operates to move the door from the closed position (Fig. l) to the open position (Fig. 2'), in which, latter position, the push plates are concealed within the walls of the door pockets and therefore are inaccessible for manual operation; however, manual operation to re-close the door is not required, as the closing operation is automatic, as will now be pointed out.

Automatic closing of the door is provided by inserting in line 6| (Fig. 10) a pair of contacts normally bridged by a switch 62, which switch 62 is opened by a striker 53 on door actuating lever 64, as the door reaches fully open position. Opening of the switch 62 de-energizes both the relay 46 and the solenoid 56, whereupon valve 51 reverses its position and causes engine 4'! to operate in the reverse direction, thus closing the door.

The door operating engine 41 is assumed to be of the well-known differential type, although any other preferred type may be substituted. As illustrated schematically in Fig. 10, the piston of larger effective area is in the left end of the unit, the piston of smaller effective area being on the right. The two pistons are joined by a toothed rod (rack) meshing with a gear to be rotated thereby, the gear and lever being secured, one to the other, either directly or indirectly, so that the lever swings through an arc of approximately ninety degrees as the pistons travel from one extreme position to the other.

Engine 41 is normally supplied with pressure fluid at both ends, the valve 5'! being so constructed that its exhaust port is normally blocked off, and communication between the left end of the unit and the supply line normally prevails through said valve; but upon energization of winding 56 this normal setting is reversed, and the left end of the cylinder is opened to exhaust through the valve exhaust port; the supply line being simultaneously blocked off. Meanwhile supply pressure continues in the right side of the. unit and causes the piston assembly to move to the leftLthus opening the door, as previously described. De-energization of. the winding 56, by the automatic operation above described, restores the valve 51 to its normal setting and the resultant pressure differential in a rightward direction causes the piston assembly to return the door to the closed position.

I claim:

1. The combination, with a wall pocket, of a door slidable into said wall pocket, to clear a passageway, a door operating motor, means for controlling energization of said motor, in a direction to cause sliding movement of the door into said wall pocket, said means including a motor energizing circuit having a movable switch element therein, a pair of striker elements abutting said movable switch elements on opposite sides thereof, means for causing one or the other of said striker elements to exert circuit closing pressure upon said movable switch ele ment, said last named means including a pair of flat plates carried on opposite surfaces of the door adjacent said striker elements, either of said flat plates being movable toward the other, to move said switch element to circuit-closing position in response to pressure applied to either face of the door; said flat plates being concealed within said wall pocket when the (1001 reaches the limit of its motion in one'direction, and means movable with the door operating motor to cause a reversal of the direction, of power application and thereby return the door to its initial position, independently of any further actuation of either of said door plates. I

2. The combination, with a wall pocket, of a door slidable into said wall pocket, to clear a passageway, a door operating motor, means for controlling energization of said motor, ina direction to cause sliding movement of the door into said wall pocket, said means including a motor energizing circuit having a movable switch element therein, a pair of striker elements abutting said movable switch elements on opposite sides thereof, and means for causing one or the other of said striker elements to exert circuit closing pressure upon said movable switch element, said last named means including a pair of fiat plates carried on opposite surfaces of the door adjacent said striker elements, either of said flat plates being movable toward the other, to move said switch element to circuit-closing position in response to pressure applied to either face of the door; said fiat plates being concealed within said wall pocket when the door reaches the limit of its Number Name j Date motion in one direction. 1,741,988 Hynes -Hh Dec. 31, 1929 CYRUS W. BASSETT. 1,758,548 Werner May 13, 1930 1,961,349 Gordon June 5, 1934 REFERENCES CITED 5 2,138,521 Ellis Nov. 29, 1938 The following references are of record in the $170103 E111S 193,9 fil f t p t t; 2,243,914 Martm et a1 "June 3, 1941 2,339,528 Tyminski Jan. 18, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,368,722 Newkirk Feb. 6. 1945 Number Name 1 Date 10 1,130,991 Metzger Mar. 9, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,287,717 McElroy Dec. 17, 1918 Number Country Date 1 1,411,167 Cutshall Mar. 28, 1922 2 at i in o 1 35 1,536,813 Rowntree May 5, 1925 705 e many Jan. 20, 1939 1,682,254:v Rorabacher Aug. 28, 1928 15 

